Labour party is addressing antisemitism issue | Letter

The new complaints procedure allows action to be taken against antisemitism while protecting party members’ right to criticise Israel, says Arthur Goodman

The Jewish Labour Movement has voted to give MPs “a scorecard to show members who had done the most to address the problem [antisemitism in the party]”, and decide who to support on that basis. (Labour activists may ‘work to rule’ over antisemitism, 9 April). The JLM has also called for monthly details of complaints and action taken, and even wants the complaints procedure overseen independently.

That is pushing legitimate concern about prejudice into demands for special treatment. Behind it is the tendency to perceive criticism of Israel as antisemitism – the stronger the criticism, the stronger the perception.